“I’ve never thought teacher is our enemy. In fact, I’ve been helping him. However, I’ll never underestimate the complexity of human nature.” No. 2 didn’t really answer No. 4. He turned to the other kids. “Bring No. 0’s figurine. We need to leave this place. If we’re captured, we might be misunderstood by the other survivors.”
The kids of Class Seven retreated. They were the biggest winner of this battle. The blood on the ground dried. Han Fei led the persona users of the three bases and chased after the Pure Hatreds until they disappeared. It was not that Han Fei didn’t want to consume more of them, but his mind didn’t allow him to control more ghosts. Standing between the old city and the new city, Han Fei’s image was forever branded in everyone’s mind. The survivors in the city never expected reinforcement like Han Fei. They managed to chase the ghosts back. The blood flowed like a river, and dark clouds gathered above them. God was angry, but humans cheered. This was the first time they had turned fate around with their own energy.
“After this, I’ll lead you to take back the things that belong to us.” Han Fei looked down at the city. His ambition burned like fire. In the past, people bowed to the admins of Hope City due to the need for protection. Now they followed Han Fei due to faith. Something within their hearts awakened. The thing made them fearless. It gave them bravery and strength.
“We are not food for ghosts or slaves for big bases. We’ve done everything for ourselves, for our families, and for our children.” Han Fei turned around to address the survivors. “I’ll stand at the forefront until we eliminate these evil threats!”
The abyss and starlight appeared at the same time. Han Fei was powerful enough to give this promise. He didn’t need anyone to die for his purpose. He wanted to protect everyone. His actions spoke louder than actions. He was more convincing than the Hope City admins, who were the first to go into hiding.
The thick clouds that represented the old god were torn apart. Rays of sunlight shone on the battlefield. The battle gave Han Fei an immense increase in reputation. He saved the survivors on his own. Gao Cheng’s name gained far more meaning than Gao Xing's. The battle of usurpation officially began. Gao Cheng was slowly walking out of Gao Xing’s shadows. Han Fei and all the persona users returned to Hope City. This was the first time humans had returned as the victors.
The citizens walked out to the street. They respected their savior a lot. Doors opened. With the admins’ invitation, Han Fei entered the core zone of Hope City for the first time. Even during the worst moment of the war, the core zone was not affected. This was the headquarters of Deep Space Tech and the last bastion of humanity’s greatest mind. Han Fei contacted Kong Tiancheng in his mind. He wanted to try something which was about to topple the era. Even Fu Sheng had not done this before. The real rules of Hope City waited for Han Fei. They loved and hated Han Fei.
They loved Han Fei because Han Fei resolved the biggest problem they had ever faced. They hated him because Han Fei’s appearance shook their power. They were worried that Han Fei would take their power away. A normal persona user wasn’t as scary as Han Fei. These admins were used to controlling persona users, but Han Fei was far too powerful for them to control. As Han Fei walked in, some of the political clowns immediately wanted to get to know him, but Han Fei ignored all of them.
The management at Hope City had been sent out to clean up the battlefield and rescue the wounded. Han Fei entered the largest conference room. Han Fei saw the leaders of the three survivor bases.
Hope City was led by a council made up of seven people. Among them was the fighter with eight awakenings, the manager of Deep Space Tech, as well as the master of logistics who handled the food and accommodation of more than 60,000 people. All seven of them were the real power holder in Hope City.
Beside them was the leader of the Tragedy Investigation Center, Li Xue, as well as the two leaders from Freedom Port.
Freedom Port was the port between Xin Lu and the outside world. The two representatives were not simple. The user with two awakenings was the youngest son of the highest leader of Freedom Port. The user with eight awakenings was the guardian of Freedom Port’s underground market. Han Fei stood on the other side of the table alone. He looked at everyone. “The danger at Hope City is temporarily over, but a bigger tragedy is coming.” He told them about Gao Xing, the fight between ghosts and survivors.
When the actual Gao Xing descended, all the survivors would be killed. If the people present didn’t want to be enslaved and killed, they had to stand with Han Fei.
“God will appear on his birthday at the latest. But I hope you can cooperate with me before that and help the New God take over the altar. Then, you’ll retain everything you have. I can promise you that.” Empty promises had no value. The people in the conference room didn’t really care about what Han Fei said. When they were threatened, they would work together, but once the danger was over, they would start fighting each other again.
“You don’t need to worry about me. When I’m fully rested, I’ll enter the Taboo Building, Immortal Skyscraper alone to destroy the door that connects our world to the ghost’s world.”
Compared to the ghosts, the admins of Hope City were more worried about Han Fei. He managed to chase the Pure Hatreds away from Hope City on his own. Han Fei’s influence among the citizens had far exceeded the admins. Han Fei shook the foundation of their rule. However, they couldn’t deal with Han Fei the way they dealt with ghosts. The only way they could deal with Han Fei was to pray that Han Fei would be killed by ghosts.
“But no one has managed to leave the Taboo Building alive before. Are you sure about this?” The representative from Deep Space Tech scanned Han Fei. He saw something about Han Fei that wasn’t present in the other rulers. The young man’s eyes burned. His ambition couldn’t be contained in a city.
“Yes. I can guarantee that I won’t get involved in the management of the three bases. However, I need your full cooperation before God’s birthday.” If the usurpation failed, God’s birthday would be everyone’s death. He didn’t need more time.
“How do you want us to cooperate?” The user with eight awakenings from Hope City finally spoke. He was cautious of Han Fei. They both had eight awakenings, but he knew how much weaker he was compared to Han Fei.
“I will cleanse the mental corruption of everyone. But I need to build the figurine of the New God in the city. I need the faith of all the survivors.” Faith was something superfluous. After the representatives had a chat, they signaled Han Fei to continue.
“Secondly, I want to discover a method where both humans and ghosts can coexist.”
When Han Fei said that, even Li Xue’s expression changed.
“After the tragedy, the hatred between humans and ghosts can’t be resolved by a single person. The fear humans have against ghosts is deeply embedded. You’re dreaming if you think humans can coexist with ghosts!” The eight awakening persona user from Hope City mocked.
“Ghosts live on living human’s fear and negative emotions. The more afraid we are, the happier they’ll be. That is how most Pure Hatreds come into being. Furthermore, not all ghosts are mindless. Some of them still retain their living memory. They are not so different from you and me!” Han Fei’s abyss opened slightly.
Everyone in the meeting room became guarded. “What are you doing?” “I’m going to have you meet a few ghosts.” Han Fei released Kong Tiancheng’s soul. Then he let out a few black merchants and finally a few souls who were related to the Hope City admins.
He had been preparing for this. He had the black merchants find these ghosts and protect them.
“The ghosts you hate so much were once the people you love.”